1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hospital communication system utilizing individual patient and room status display devices. Specifically, multiple display devices are connected to a local area network allowing each device to be controlled through a variety of different methods and interfaces which update the output status display in real-time.
2. Description of Related Art
Hospital nurses often have to work long hours in a stressful environment. Under such difficult working conditions, effective communication between nurses, patients and doctors is necessary for providing optimal care to patients. Furthermore, clue to increasing costs within the healthcare field, many hospitals use less staff during non-peak hours. Effective communication within the facility is necessary for maximizing the hospital's efficiency when lower staff numbers are used.
One method of improving efficiency through effective communication is with the use of a nurse call system. A nurse call system allows a patient to signal and talk directly to a nurse, who is located at a nurse station. The patient activates a call button that connects the user, through an audio network, to the nurse. The nurse can then respond to the specific needs of the patient by communicating these needs to a nurse located close to the patient. The call button can include other functions such as providing an emergency distress signal or a bathroom signal to the nurse station. Nurse call systems result in an increase in the amount of patient and nurse interaction. This increased interaction provides more information to the nurses, but in turn places more demand on them as they are required to meet even more specific needs of every patient.
Nurse call systems have existed for a number of years and are used in most hospitals. There have been many improvements to these systems in recent years, which allow for an increase in the efficiency of the nurse staff and in the quality of provided care. One such improvement is the use of a packet based communication network. This system allows nurses to handle the multitude of patient calls and identities associated with these calls in an effective manner. Furthermore, the packet based communication network allows for communication with a plurality of secondary audio stations. These audio stations are located throughout the hospital wing and create communication networks between nurses. While the packet based audio network allows for communication amongst nurses from sub stations to a main station, it still requires that roaming nurses check into each sub station to obtain instructions and patient information.
Another method of improving the ease by which health care professionals obtain and respond to patients needs is through the use of a Point-Of-Care computer system. These systems allow doctors, nurses and other hospital staff to access specific information about patients that is stored on a database, from any computer connected to the point-of-care network. Patient data comes from a number of sources including patient monitors, lab results, or information input by hospital workers. These systems provide a more efficient method of storing the large amounts of patient information that are necessary for providing quality healthcare. While the point-of-care system offers an improved means of organizing a wealth of information about each individual patient, computers are still required to access this data. Since it is not cost effective to station a computer in every single room, hospital workers must still effectively communicate the information retrieved through a computer from the database to other staff members.
Improvements made to hospital communication and nurse call systems through packet based networks and point-of-care systems have not only increased the efficiency of communication between patients and hospital staff, but also increased the number of need requests that are handled by the hospital workers. For some complicated patient needs, it is necessary for nurses to check into nurse stations in order to address each patient's requests properly. For other more routine needs, however, the requirement of nurses checking into a station dramatically reduces hospital efficiency. Hospitals now utilize zone lighting to convey signals on the status or needs of corresponding patients. Each lighting unit is placed outside of a patient's room. When the nurse call system is activated, the light illuminates indicating that assistance is needed. The state of the art uses multiple LEDs to create a number of different signals on one zone lighting system. These signals can include a nurse call, the presence of staff in the room, or a “code blue” emergency. The signal to the zone lighting unit can be initiated from a number of sources. These sources include a nurse call button in the patient's room, a pull chain in the patient's room or a central control at the nurse station. Current dome lights provide a much more effective means of communicating simple needs of the patients. Dome lights, however, are limited in the number of signals that can be conveyed. Dome lights usually display only three colors thus drastically limiting the number of different signals that are conveyed. Illumination pattern schemes can be developed by hospitals; however, these become extremely complex and difficult for passing nurses to read.
The present invention offers an improved means of communicating patient and room status to hospital staff through the use of one dome light that is illuminated with a RGB LED. The RGB LED enables any color to be displayed on the device dome light. Furthermore, different colors can be flashed in different patterns to display a number of different cycled signals in a clear and effective manner. The present invention also comprises multiple user controlled actuators. These actuators can be color coordinated to represent any task. The user controlled actuators are operated manually at each display device to illuminate the dome light with the desired status color. Each can be used to convey a number of different messages such as room status or medication reminder. Also, the present invention acts within a nurse call system and can be controlled by either a nurse call master station or a web-based interface system that runs on CAT5 cables. Finally, the present invention is not directly connected to any active monitor, therefore protecting the privacy of the patient while meeting the HIPPA requirements of patient confidentiality.